Recant or resign, Richard

by | Jul 28, 2016 | 2016 Elections, NC Politics, Republicans | 7 comments

Richard Burr must either retract his endorsement of Donald Trump or resign from the Intelligence committee. Trump has requested the KGB to attack America in cyberspace, a breach of our national security that Newt Gingrich has described as “acts of war.” The Intelligence committee is tasked first and foremost with overseeing the CIA, a long-time rival and foe of Russian spies.

Even before Trump’s call for cyberwar, Burr was on thin ice. As of with his jockish taste for the goofy. Now he must disavow them and Trump, or be disqualified from the role of Intelligence chairman.

That’s because just as we cannot trust Trump with the presidency, we cannot trust a Trump supporter with the Intelligence chairmanship. With his support for Trump, Burr has proven his preference for party over country. Among all policy areas, the politicization of intelligence is most dangerous. It threatens national security and undermines the crucial trust that must exist between all parts of the defense apparatus. The Intelligence chairman must uphold a strict standard of non-partisanship, adhering to the goals of national security and deflecting all threats thereto, regardless of politics. As of now Burr fails that test.

Because Burr is up for election, it is tempting to infer campaign implications. I will refrain from doing so. The reverberations of this controversy are far too serious. And frankly, the upshot’s not hard to see: “Welcome to a red state,” Burr recently declared. That statement now sounds a little sinister.

7 Comments

  1. Charles Hogan

    The strain of treason appears to run deep among republicans. Remember the 47 traitors of the Iran nuclear talks?
    “Burr, Tillis defend signing letter to Iran on nukes” – citizen-times
    http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2015/03/12/burr-tillis-defend-signing-letter-iran-nukes/70227620/

    Combine that with Trumps recent actions and you have the beginnings of WWW III should the republican gain control of all three branches of the Federal government in November and cancel out the checks and balances of Democracy .

    • Maurice

      Burr’s intruded into the president’s role in foreign policy by conveying to Iranians that they can’t really agree to lasting limitation on nuclear enrichment and instead better arm themselves to prepare for defending against a divided US government.

      Why would Burr endorse someone who called for a total and complete ban on Muslims entering the US?

  2. Ebrun

    Wow, your previous blogs have been so partisan and disingenuous that even discerning Democrats must be hard pressed to take them seriously (Burr a prime candidate for VP, LOL). But this one is such a stretch that it must strain the credulity of even the most gullible Democrats. What a petty and vacuous attempt to slander a hard working, patriotic U.S. Senator.

    • TY Thompson

      I suspect a lot of right-of-center people would disagree with any characterization of Burr as “patriotic”. It isn’t that he’s failed to defend the Constitution so much as he’s actively undermined it, particularly the 4th Amendment.

      • Ebrun

        So do you think the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee is unpatriotic? Yes, there are a few ultra right wingers who may think so. Wonder how they think someone who is unpatriotic got appointed to such an important position. I suspect he has earned the utmost respect among his GOP colleagues. It’s those on the far left and far right who seem to have a problem with Senator Burr’s patriotism.

  3. Maurice

    Richard Burr criticized Donald’s comments about the heritage of a judge assigned to one of his civil court cases. Burr said “I don’t think there’s a place for the comments that were made.” Similarly, Paul Ryan said Donald’s comments are the textbook definition of racism.

    A month later, Richard Burr said the country needs a Trump administration. Maybe, Burr should retract his endorsement of Donald.

  4. Norma Munn

    Interesting idea, but certain that it is not going to happen. Anyone sufficiently foolish to embrace Trump as president is highly unlikely to see anything wrong in Trump saying Russia should hack into for Hillary’s emails to find “the 20,000 missing emails” – another figment of his feral imagination.

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